Edward Joseph Harrington O'Brien (1890–1941) was a U.S. writer, poet, editor and
anthologist
In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors.
In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically catego ...
.
As Edward J. O'Brien, he created a series of annual anthologies containing his selection of the previous year's best short stories by U.S. authors, ''
The Best American Short Stories The Best American Short Stories yearly anthology is a part of ''The Best American Series'' published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Since 1915, the BASS anthology has striven to contain the best short stories by some of the best-known writers in con ...
'' (originally ''The Best Short Stories of 1915'', and so on). In that he was succeeded by Martha Foley, who continued the work until her own death in 1977 without a great change in format.
He went to live in Europe in 1919. He married his first wife, English writer
Romer Wilson
Romer Wilson (born Florence Roma Muir Wilson (''married name'' O'Brien); 26 December 1891 in Sheffield – 11 January 1930 in Lausanne) was a British writer who wrote about 13 novels during the inter-war period. In 1921, she won the Hawthornd ...
, in 1923. Two years after her death in 1932, he married German writer Ruth Gorgel, who survived him.
He died at his home in
Gerrards Cross
Gerrards Cross is a town and civil parish in south Buckinghamshire, England, separated from the London Borough of Hillingdon at Harefield by Denham, south of Chalfont St Peter and north bordering villages of Fulmer, Hedgerley, Iver Heath and ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. The cause of death was heart failure. At the time, he was the European story editor for
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's England studios.
["Edward J. O'Brien, Short Story Editor, Boston Native, Dies," '']Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'', February 25, 1941.
Books
As editor
* ''Poems of the Irish Revolutionary Brotherhood'' (1916)
ith_Padraic_Colum.html" ;"title="Padraic_Colum.html" ;"title="ith Padraic Colum">ith Padraic Colum">Padraic_Colum.html" ;"title="ith Padraic Colum">ith Padraic Colum* ''The Best Short Stories of 1915: and the Yearbook of the American Short Story'' (1916) [first in series]
* ''The Best Short Stories of 1916: and the Yearbook of the American Short Story'' (1917)
* ''The Masque of Poets: A Collection of New Poems by Contemporary American Poets'' (1918)
* ''The Best Short Stories of 1920 and the Yearbook of the American Short Story''
* ''The Best British Short Stories of 1922''
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* ''The Best Short Stories of 1923: and the Yearbook of the American Short Story'' (1924)
* ''The Best British Short Stories of 1924''
ith_John_Cournos.html" ;"title="John Cournos">ith John Cournos">John Cournos">ith John Cournos* ''The Best Short Stories of 1926: and the Yearbook of the American Short Story'' (1926)
* ''The Best British Short Stories of 1928'' (1928)
* ''The Best Short Stories of 1931: and the Yearbook of the American Short Story'' (1931)
* ''The Best Short Stories of 1932: and the Yearbook of the American Short Story'' (1932)
* ''Modern English Short Stories'' (1933)
* ''The Twenty-Five Finest Short Stories'' (1933)
* ''The Guest Book'' (1935)
* ''Elizabethan Tales'' (1937)
* ''50 Best American Short Stories 1915-1939'' (1939)
* ''The Best British Short Stories of 1939''
As author
* ''The Advance of the American Short Story'' (1923)
* ''The Dance of the Machines: The American Short Story and the Industrial Age'' (1929)
* ''Son of the Morning: A Portrait of Friedrich Nietzsche'' (1932)
As contributor
* ''A Renegade Poet and Other Essays'', by Francis Thompson (1910) [introduction]
Articles
* "The American Short Story," ''The Writer'', October 1935
* "The American Short Story—II," ''The Writer'', November 1935
References
External links
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American book editors
20th-century American poets
1890 births
1941 deaths
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